Discussion

Nice restaurant for 40th Bday in S. Westchester

hello I am new to this board and it looks very exciting. I am hoping to get some help here. I am planning a 40th bday party for my wife and have no idea where to start. I would like to it be somewhere near public transportation (Metro North) since many of our friends from the city will be coming. We are new to Westchester and moved to Tarrytown but the restaurant doesnt need to be in Tarrytown, but a delicious restaurant with a nice atmosphere preferably with a private room or seating area to accomodate about 50 guests. My wife likes any kind of food as long as it is delicious. We moved from Grammercy Park so we know good food! I'd like to say my budget I would like to keep under $100 a person, but most of all, I would really like to wow our snooty city friends who gawk at the fact that we live in the 'burbs noW

X20 might wow your snooty friends, and it is accessible by MetroNorth. Peter Kelly, the chef, beat Bobby FLay on Iron Chef, so that bit of info might impress city snobs. The view up and down the Hudson is fabulous, and we have always been impressed by Kelly's food, whether here or up in Piermont. Another "wow" might be Blue Hill at Stone Barns, but I have no idea how they they handle groups. In these trying economic times, $100 pp for a group of 50 might be something a restauranteur might be willing to work with -- even at the more high priced restaurants in the area.

I second roxlets rec on any of the Peter Kelly restaurants. Blue Hill is also nice, but theres a Blue Hill in the city so not sure how they would feel about that. On the other hand, the Blue Hill in the city doesnt have a giant farm on it so thats a nice plus. If you do have it at Blue Hill, I would try to have it start earlier in the afternoon so they can see the farm animals grazing whilst there!

I agree with the X20 idea. Blue Hill is wondrous, but not near the train station. With your budget, you might fare better with a brunch/lunch? I've only had dinner there 2 times, but also wonder about the Iron Horse Grill in Pleasantville - seats 60 or so, don't know if they'd close for a private affair or not.

Be sure to search this board for "Metro North" - there was a thread awhile back on restaurants near train stations, which could provide a bunch of other ideas.

No, haven't been to Santorini lately - am shy about the haphazard service, and I make better spanokopita and avoglemono myself. But I'd give it another try for kebabs - remind me, do they do a fish kebab?

I don't recall a fish kebab, and I don't see it on the menu. We used to LOVE Santorini, but the last couple times we've been there, not only has the service been horrible, but the food was not as good as it used to be. We will probably give it another shot one of these days, haven't been in about 6 months--first we're trying the new Turkish place in White Plains.http://santorinigreekrestaurant.com/

I just had a party for my husband at Sunset Cove, right in Tarrytown, (58 people), with a DJ / dancing, very lively party. I have a lot of "foodie" friends (including myself), everyone was impressed with the food, service, atmosphere, etc. It was under $60/pp (including premium beer/wine), very well done and within walking distance from the TT train station.

Don't know about the snooty friend wow factor, but I've always found Rosie's Bistro in Bronxville to have quite enjoyable food, a pleasant atmosphere and generally good service. And they can actually make a cold martini, which seems to be a dying art. I particularly like their carpaccio, but I've never had a bad dish there. I also think its fairly priced, though some have disagreed with that. They have a back dining room with a fireplace that might (or might not) be large enough for your gathering. And its one block from Metro North.

I think X20 will wow them the most...not sure if theres much going on in that downtown yonkers area late at night though...what about the restaurants in Tarrytown, near you?There's Chiboust which is quite exquisite but it may be too small for your party... and there's Main Street Cafe, not high end but pretty good food. Also, theres a lot going on in White PLains

Thanks everyone for helping me pick out a place. We decided to book at X2O after reading replies to my post and to other posts on this awesome website! We are actually having dinner there this weekend so I will let you know how it turns out!